Join My Group Girlfriends!

The Dark Knight.

It is everything it is hyped to be. I saw it last night at midnight, and it was like no superhero movie I've ever seen. To be honest, it was like no movie I've ever seen. I still can't believe it. Heath Ledger's Joker is, in my opinion, the greatest movie villian I've ever witnessed. He was terrifying, manic, and darkly funny. As usual, Batman was also played very strongly by Christian Bale. I was probably most surprised about how great Aaron Eckhart was playing Harvey Dent.

Anyways, I would recommend this movie to anyway, although I'm obviously not the first person to say it was amazing.

Please Join My Forum.

So, my friend recently made an all-topic forum, with boards about music, gaming, computers, the like. It's in primal stages, so it'd be a great help if you could join and contribute. I'm not asking much, just for you to help it get off the ground. Who knows, you might even find it fun enough to stay!

Guess the Motherfucking Songs.

Current mood: Not there. Gone.

To continue the trend started by Vintage X Metal

Step 1: Put your iTunes or equivalent on random.Step 2: Post the first line from the first 35 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing.Step 3: Have people guess what songs they are.Step 4: Bold out the songs when someone guesses correctly.Step 5: Looking them up on Google or any other search engine is cheating

1. 'Which side are you on, boys, which side are you on?'2. 'I couldn't manage the problems I laid on myself.'3. 'Captain, there are doubts.'4. 'Nice girls, not the ones with the defects.'5. 'I would say "I'm sorry" if I thought it would change her mind.'6. 'I walked out with the power out.'7. 'Last night I stood at your doorstep, trying to figure out what went wrong.'8. 'Wednesday morning at five o'clock.'9. 'Panic on the streets of London.'10. 'I've been on tenterhooks
ending in dirty looks.'11. 'Loooonggg agggoooo...'12. 'I got a '69 Chevy with a 396.'13. 'I am a scientist, I seek to understand.'14. 'I'm becoming less defined as days go by.'15. 'Beyond the horizon...'16. 'Let's see if you can spot this one.'17. 'I'm a high school lover.'18. 'Standing at the punch table swallowing punch.'19. 'The Rangers had a homecoming.'20. 'Here comes success.'21. 'You're perfect in no way.'22. 'Pigs, they tend to wiggle when they walk.'23. 'Aruba, Jamaica, oh I want to take ya.'24. 'See him dancing across the water.'25. 'It's a pill and you've got to take it.'26. 'Ziggy played guitar.'27. 'I can't never forget you.'28. '
It was back in '32 when times were hard.'29. 'I see trees of green.'30. 'Trailors for sale or rent.'31. 'What's the matter, why don't you answer?'32. 'You walk into the room.'33. 'I knew it must have been some big set-up.'34. 'Doug and Sally inside.'35. 'I'm goin' out west where the wind blows tall.'

Rants/Raves. You Get It.

Current mood: creative

Hey, would like me to yell at you? Yes? You got it!

Things That Are Pissing Me Off.John McCain- Tell me, ladies and gentleman, do you really want a trigger-happy, almost dead, completely uninspirational, reincarnate of Franklin the Turtle as your president? Six months ago, I would've been delighted to say that John McCain had no fuckin' chance of winning the Republican nomination. But, somehow, this absolute asshole who despises the biggest political party in the United States (Democrats), has gotten enough money to continue his Campaign of Terror and is, through some miracle, the dead-locked frontrunner for the GOP nomination. Dammit. Really, how the hell? I mean, he is the absolute biggest supporter of a war 68% of the people in this country oppose. He's fuckin' nuts. The Iraq War is very similar to when your dad says 'Let's build a deck'. And Dad is uber gung-ho about the deck. But, in five years, the deck is a mess of splinters and duck tape and semen (because you ran out of Super Glue), and Dad keeps trying to defend the absolute idiotic construction of this deck. The neighbors are starting to hate us. And John 'Mac Is Back' McCain is like your equally crazy uncle, who wants to help dad build that deck. Both of them need to let the fucking deck go.

Progress Reports - Fuckin' progress reports. See, progress reports serve no purpose. They aren't decisive like report cards. They are simply pieces of paper designed to force your parents to make you think your grades are awful, when in reality, you still have a month to change them. It's bullshit.

All Of You Born-Again Giants Fans - Yeah, you know, all two-hundred million of you who became die-hard Giant's fans in the last two minutes of the Super Bowl. And all of you who ran around like assholes the day after saying 'OMG Brady sucks!!1loolololo!1'. Yeah. I mean, what's three Super Bowl rings, an 18-1 season, and the single-season touchdown record for a year? I know. You've been through thick and thin for all of one and a half minutes. Now, if you would please, go back to rooting for your bullshit hometown team (that means you Paul, time to break out the Lion's jersey) and shut the fuck up.

Anarchists - Hey there, dreamers! Now don't get worked up, I know how much the big, bad government oppresses you and your Sex Pistols cover band. But, do you think, that maybe you can pretend to be devote to a political ideaology that's, I don't know, fessible? The fact is, you only want to be an anarchist because people tell you that you do. Which really ruins the point, now doesn't it? Unless you want to live in a world similar to 'Mad Max', I suggest you shut the fuck up.

Nirvana. That's Right; Nirvana. - I tolerated Nirvana for long enough, but now it's just getting annoying. I enjoyed Nirvana when I was twelve and they were basically the heaviest thing I've ever listened. They just seem extremely boring to me now that my tastes have progressed. Kurt really doesn't deserve the praise he gets. He is a good songwriter, but really is not better than his contemperaries (Cornell, Vedder (blows Cobain away), and even Corgan). After one or two songs, it all runs together, and gets bland. In my opinion, Ghorl is better as a songwriter and guitarist, although the Foo Fighters are getting on my nerves too.

Which leads me too...

The Foo Fighters Beating Bruce Springsteen For Best Rock Album - Oh, bitch please. In my opinion, ESP&G (can't be bothered to write it all) is like oh-so-many Foo's albums before. It's like a continuation of 'In Your Honor'. 'Magic', however, was not only the best rock album of the year, but the best overall. Springsteen revamped his sound to appeal to a younger audience, and did so without alienating his older fans. That's an accomplishment. It really seems that the Foo's only won because they agreed to show up and play the ceremony while Springsteen couldn't be bothered. The Grammy's wouldn't want to give a major award to a recipient that wouldn't be there.

My Flawless Oscar Picks.

Current mood: drunk like a russian

Hey there, losers, it's Oscar time (actually, not for a month). I thought I'd unravel my expert opinion, so it can be allowed to saturate into your febble brains. First I will show who the Academy nominated ( http://www.oscars.com/nominees/&nbsp, then I will give MY opinion. Here we go:

Best Picture:
Atonement
Juno
Michael Clayton
No Country For Old Men
There Will Be Blood

Tyler's Take: As good 'Juno' was, I don't think it should be nominated. Neither should Atonement (the Academy loves sappy love stories with Keira Knightly), or Michael Clayton (still a great film, though). Those three should be replaced with the Bob Dylan experimental biopic, 'I'm Not There' (I've never seen such creativity in a biopic), 'Into The Wild' (Emile Hirsch and Hal Holbrook are fantastic, and Eddie Vedder's soundtrack is just icing on the cake), and Sweeney Todd (Depp, Carter, and Burten went WAY out on a limb and paid off big-time, real fun to watch). The winner will be either 'There Will Be Blood' or 'No Country For Old Men'. Both excellent films, but I like 'No Country For Old Men' just a little bit more.

Tyler's Take: While I have not seen 'In The Valley of Elah', my father has, and said it was God awful. Based on that, Tommy Lee Jones should be booted from this category. The actors though, whole-heartedly deserve it. Replace Jones with Phillip Seymour Hoffman for 'Before The Devil Know's You're Dead', and you got a great list. It is impossible to choose between Depp and Day-Lewis. Impossible. Let me flip a coin. The coin said Depp.

Actor In A Supporting Role:
Casey Affleck - The Assasination of Jesse James By The Cowards Robert Ford
Javier Bordem - No Country For Old Men
Phillip Seymour Hoffman - Charlie Wilson's War
Hal Holbrook - Into the Wild
Tom Wilkinson - Michael Clayton

Tyler's Take: First off, get rid of Affleck and add Heath Ledger, Richard Gere, or Christian Bale for their work in 'I'm Not There'. While Bordem probabaly will win, the best actor here is Holbrook. His performence as Ronald Franz in 'Into The Wild' was so sad and tearjerking, exspecially when he asks Emile Hirsch if he could adopt him as his grandfather. He should win.

Tyler's Take: Lol wut?!?! Where's Helena Bonham Carter? She makes people into meat pies in 'Sweeney Todd'? Get rid of Swinton and add her. Either way, unless the apocolypse is coming, Blanchett BETTER win. I mean, just consider the stretch she took playing that role...

Cinematography:
The Assasination Of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
There Will Be Blood
Atonement
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
No Country For Old Men

Tyler's Take: Scratch 'Atonement' and add 'Into the Wild', also scratch 'The Diving Bell and the Butterfly' for '3:10 To Yuma'. Either way, the movie that can win this is 'There Will Be Blood'. The cinematography is one of the best parts of the excellent movie.

Directing:
The Diving Bell & the Butterfly
Juno
No Country For Old Men
There Will Be Blood
Michael Clayton

Tyler's Take: Not only should 'Into the Wild' (Sean Penn is the director), but it should also win. Get rid of 'Michael Clayton'. Also, get rid of 'Juno' for Tim Burten's masterpeice 'Sweeney Todd'. Bounce 'The Diving Bell and the Butterfly' for Todd Haynes' work in 'I'm Not There'. Atleast he took some chances. The winner should be Penn.

Documentry:
Sicko
War/Dance
Taxi To The Dark Side
No End In Sight
Operation Homecoming: Writing The Wartime Experience

Tyler's Take: Just give the award to Michael Moore right now for 'Sicko'.

Tyler's Take: WHAT THE FUCK!? WHERE IS 'THERE WILL BE BLOOD'? Normally, I hate Radiohead. But, Johnny Greenwood did a great job with the score. The best out of this list is '3:10 To Yuma', but the best overall is 'There Will Be Blood'.

Music (Song):
Once
Enchanted
Enchanted
Enchanted
August Rush

Tyler's Take: This is the PISS-POORLY nominated category in the entire award's ceremony. Let me get this straight: You nominated three songs from 'Enchanted', but couldn't nominate any of Eddie Vedder's songs in 'Into the Wild'?!?! Any note from 'Into the Wild' is 1214124 times better than anything nominated.

A Real Grievence....

Current mood: sympathetic

I would just like to take this short time to give my condolences to the family of Heath Ledger, the acclaimed Australian actor. Now although I don't feel the attraction to many actors that I do musicians, I'm still a great fan of film (you'll be seeing my upcoming Academy Awards' picks in an a blog coming to a computer screen near you). And, I didn't realize, until now, how much of a Heath Ledger fan I am. I mean, "Lord's Of Dogtown", "The Patriot", "Brokeback Mountain"? These are all excellent films. And my favorite Ledger movie HAS to be the recent abstract Bob Dylan biopic, "I'm Not There". If you haven't heard about the movie, it pits six actors playing Dylan, 5 of them looking nothing like him, the only that does is Cate Blanchett, a woman, who looks SHOCKINGLY like Dylan. The others being Marcus Carl Franklin, depicting Dylan as a 11 year old black child named 'Woody Guthrie', Christian Bale, who plays Dylan after his conversion to Christianity, Richard Gere, playing Dylan as 'Billy the Kid', which is Dylan after is recluse after his motorcycle accident, Ledger plays 'Robbie Clark', an actor playing Dylan in a biopic (how ironic?), and the story reverts back to Ben Winshaw, who plays a character named 'Arthur Rimbuad' (the real Arthur Rimbuad was an acclaimed poet) which is Dylan being interviewed by the press. "I'm Not There" is easily the greatest movie I've seen all year, and I'm a movie snob. Go see it.

Grievences.

Current mood: cranky

I thought I'd share with UG someone of the things that have been recently bugging the fuck outta me.

The Sex Pistols Planning New Material - God, I hope not. I'm so tired of the Sex Pistols. How they ended up in the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame is ridiculous beyond belief. They release one damn album, and are praised as the creators of a genre arguably concepted over half a decade before by The Stooges self-titled debut. All of this crap they've been pulling lately is one big publicity stunt: Lydon on "BoDog's Battle of the Bands", the reunion show, this. They may be one of the most overrated bands ever. A loose collective of piss-poor musicians who fired their "real" bassist, hired some stuntman who couldn't play for shit, and never wrote another hit.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Note to self: Don't listen to everything the Alt/Indie Forum suggests. I came into GY!BE's music with an open mind. I thought "Well, I like some post-rock, and I'm trying to find more, I'll check these fellas out". Mistake. I was SEVERLY dissapointed. Post-Rock? Good. Post-Rock mixed with classical music? Bad. Post-Rock mixed with classical music written by anarchists? I'd rather castrate myself. It seems that everyone one of their fuckin' "songs" is over 17 minutes long. I could take TWO showers during that time. "Antennas To Heaven" starts off like an unintelligible backwoods folk song that has been recorded backwards, and ends with 15 minutes of what I can only assume is the sound a car battery makes when put into a pottery kiln.

Jack Kerouac - I've been making my way around Beat literature over the last couple months, and thought I'd check out a few books by "The King of the Beatniks". So far, I've read "Big Sur", which I wouldn't recommend, and that's putting it VERY nicely. My biggest problem? The punctuation. I'm pretty sure there are 3 periods in the entire book. The content of the book wasn't awful, but it was far from impressive. It's like a poorly written and horridly edited journal of a whiney drunk. The story is both uninteresting and impossible to follow, because of Kerouac's long drawls and over-analyzation, and because of the poor punctuation. I won't ruin the plot for you. I'll let Kerouac do that.

Tyler's Top Twenty Favorite Springsteen Songs

Current mood: accomplished

So, we all love The Boss. If you don't, may God have mercy on your soul. Because, fun fact, Jesus doesn't wear a robe, he wears a Born To Run t-shirt.

Jungleland - It's like a little movie. Also, Clarence Clemon's sax solo is better than any guitar solo ever.Highway Patrolman - Again, like a little movie. Also features the town I live in (As the band played 'night of the Johnstown Flood).Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out - Great song about the make-up of the E-Street Band. I love Bruce's raspy vocals and thin, funky chords.Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) - It's long, and epic. Somehow it reminds me of Mexico. Don't know why. Features the greatest bassline in a Springsteen song.Darkness On the Edge of Town - Great bassline and keys. I love the way Bruce's vocals go from soft to loud, but the rest of the music stays relatively the same.Born to Run - If you don't know why I chose this, you should be slayed.The River - Excellent harmonica intro. And, like Highway Patrolman, mentions my town ("Gotta job working construction, at the Johnstown Company"). I also love the way the tempo changes at the "I remember us driving in my brother's car, your body, tan and wet, down at the resivoir" part.Nebraska - Basically a dark folk-country about a serial killer (based on Charles Starkweather). You can barely hear the guitar. Haunting.Badlands - Great, over-driven guitar. I love the "Poor man wanna be rich, rich wanna be king" line.The Ghost Of Tom Joad - Ever read "The Grapes of Wrath"? You know why.4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy) - Great, great lyrics. I think there is some accordian, too.Born In the USA - If I didn't put this, I'd be castrated.State Trooper - The original version is very dark and haunting, but I loved it when he made it heavier when he played it with Arcade Fire.Factory - Anthem of the working class.Blinded By the Light - Very loose, free-spirited. I love the guitar work.Growin' Up - 2nd best song of his debut.Thunder Road - A gigantic anthem. Oh, Oh, Thunder Road!Atlantic City - It's slightly more up-tempo than the rest of Nebraska, but keeps the haunting feeling that the album gives. Great mandolin.I'm On Fire - Great break-up of the poppy monotony on Born In the USA. You can definitly hear hints of Nebraska.The Promised Land - Love the organ on the bridge.